Baldor Specialty Foods and Sustainability

Baldor Specialty Foods takes noteworthy steps to promote sustainability within its operations.

Baldor, a distributor serving the Philadelphia market for over 30 years, supplies a wide range of fresh produce, specialty items and sustainable seafood to restaurants, hotels, caterers and other food service providers throughout the Northeast. With a focus on quality, farm-totable foods and supporting local producers, Baldor also recognizes the importance of sustainable practices in its business model.

A new facility with a fresh focus on energy efficiency

In 2021, Baldor completed building a refrigerated warehouse in Philadelphia. Before that, Baldor delivered products to the Philadelphia region out of its Bronx headquarters. With a local presence, the food is even fresher, and they’re emitting less carbon due to a decrease in transportation.

During the construction of its warehouse, PECO Ways to Save offered Baldor technical assistance, support and incentives on energy saving measures.

Optimizing refrigeration

Glenn Messinger, vice president of branch operations, estimates that Baldor’s main energy expense — its refrigeration system — was at about 90% of its electric costs. With guidance from PECO Ways to Save, Baldor installed a refrigeration control system. The controls enable the monitoring of evaporators and condensers directly from a smartphone or other remote device.

“We have about 50,000 sq. ft. of controlled space with five different temperature zones,” said Messinger. The innovative technology allows for remote control of the system. “For food safety, it’s good because I can monitor temperatures. If there’s any issues, I’ll get the warning to my phone,” said Messinger. He also reported that the system allows him to save significant energy, create safe working conditions by reducing unwanted noise from equipment, and reduce food waste.

“Not only does it help me save money on my refrigeration, my power,” said Messinger, “it helps me when I call for service, but it also allows the technician to focus on where the problem is instead of going up on the roof, spending two hours trying to figure out what’s going on.”

Offsetting the costs of energy efficient upgrades

Baldor constructed their new facility with energy efficient lighting utilizing PECO Ways to Save incentives to offset the costs.

Messinger said, “Especially in the warehouse where lights are 40 feet in the air, it’s better to have LEDs because they’ll last longer. We’ve been in this building three years, and I haven’t had to change a bulb.”

PECO Ways to Save incentives pay you back

In 2021 and 2022, PECO Ways to Save provided Baldor with, respectively:

• $26,955 in incentives for its LED installation
• $82,030 in incentives for its refrigeration controls

Baldor Specialty Foods worked with PECO Ways to Save and embraced energy efficient operations as part of their pledge to support a sustainable food system. With the estimated energy savings, the refrigeration controls could pay for themselves in 2 to 3 years. Much like a cyclical food system, the investment in energy efficiency pays you back.

Visit peco.com/business to learn more about how you can reduce energy consumption and costs through energy efficiency solutions and savings measures

¹ https://www.baldorfood.com/green